New book profiles Messer-built Cincinnati "icon"

A new book has hit stores profiling the design, build and historical significance of Downtown Cincinnati’s Terrace Plaza Hotel, which was built by Messer in the late 1940s. The book, Cincinnati's Terrace Plaza Hotel: An Icon of American Modernism, was written by University of Cincinnati DAAP graduate Shawn Patrick Tubb – also a Milford High School graduate – and published by Cincinnati Book Publishing. A book signing – limited to book purchasers only – will take place on Saturday, Nov. 9, from noon-2 p.m. at The Booksellers on Fountain Square (505 Vine St.), followed by an external tour of the Terrace Plaza Hotel.

The building, which now sits vacant, stands as a symbol of the Modernist art and architecture movement in the U.S. following World War II. Messer joined teams of young designers and artists to produce what was then a new concept: a mixed-use complex. Today, mixed-use complexes are virtually everywhere, including recent Messer projects at UC and Xavier University.